Italian solar car ‘Emilia 3’ crosses Australia

(ANSA) – Bologna, October 11 – Italian solar car ‘Emilia 3’, created by a team from the University of Bologna, on Friday crossed the finish line in tenth place at the World Solar Challenge in Australia, an international racing competition for solar cars.

The car was developed by a team of researchers and professors from the university’s electrical energy and industrial engineering departments and crossed the Australian desert over 3,000 km from North to South in six days with an average speed of 65 km/h.

The vehicle was entirely built in carbon fibre and did not register technical glitches during the competition in spite of strong crosswinds and a cloudy day, the university’s press office said. It crossed the finish line in tenth place out of 22 participants, including top Japanese, Dutch and US teams from Stanford University and the University of Michigan.